Un-Safe Deposit Boxes!

Most of us think that one of the safest places to store our valuables is in a safe deposit box in a bank. Who can blame anyone for thinking this - banks after all, have the best 24 hour security and alarm systems. However, recent tragedies such as the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center brought to light that a safe deposit box may not be the safest place to hide your cash! In both of these terrible tragedies, hundreds of people’s safe deposit boxes and their contents were destroyed irretrievably.

To add insult to injury, the contents of a safe deposit box are seldom insured. The only thing that can indemnify your belongings is, of course, your homeowners insurance policy. But, the caveat is - you are not supposed to be hiding cash in a safe deposit box, and thus, it is not insured. Sadly, many people found this out the hard way in the two tragedies mentioned above. The FDIC (or CDIC in Canada) only insures the deposits in accounts held in banks, but not the contents of safe deposit boxes!

With the current unprecedented global economic crisis, it is becoming obvious that more and more people are desperately searching for ways to safely hide their cash and valuables. What makes this even more tense is that banks are failing daily. A recent 2008 Pennsylvania Department of Revenue survey of 687 safe deposit boxes found that 172 had “cash or coins.”

More cautions against hiding your cash, gold, and silver  in a safe deposit box are:

• In the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could get a warrant to access your safe deposit box if the bank tips them off due to what they might perceive as “suspicious activity”, which could literally be anything, like too many regular visits. Other nations likely have similar legislation.
• The often abusive IRS can often freeze assets merely based on suspicion of probabilities, until the courts clear the accused.
• Creditors can seize your assets with your banks help.
• If you declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy your deposit box assets can be confiscated.
• Various laws allow state governments to declare your safe box valuables "abandoned", permitting sale of your assets at an auction with proceeds going to the robber-state.
• Bank failures and/or "Bank Holidays" like in FDR's era can throw your safety deposit box into a gray area. Federal laws closing banks can put your wealth just beyond your reach when you need it most, during unstable economic, political, or social disasters.

Things to keep in mind when storing valuables in a safe deposit box:

• Read your homeowner’s insurance policy and if in doubt, get legal advice on any ambiguities.
• Read the safe deposit box contract thoroughly!
• Take photographs of all of your valuables and place them in waterproof plastic bags, even multiple layers to keep the elements from doing damage to them, should natural or man-made disaster strike. Bank vaults are normally designed to be fireproof, but not waterproof, so if you are in a flood prone area (like the Red River in the Dakotas) you might want to think about this.
• Do not store original copies of documents you require immediate access to, such as receipts, wills, funerary directives, etc.
• Find an alternative to hiding your valuables in a bank.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

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Prices NEVER Go Up!

It drives me crazy everytime I hear a newscaster, financial analyst, or even an average consumer  complain about how prices of food, gas, appliances, etc., are going up. Especially when they then launch into an ill-considered rage at the "fat-cat oil barrons" or the "greedy corporations" or the evil 1%". As a result, I'm going to say this one time only. Prices NEVER go up! The real prices on the everyday items your grandmother and father bought cost the same as they did back in the day. After all, how could prices increase? I mean, an orange in 1963 is an orange today, why would you pay more for it now then you did back then? So, if prices haven't gone up, then what has changed? The value of your money has GONE DOWN.

In 1964 President Johnson announced that starting in 1965 US coins (dimes, quarters, and halves) would no longer be minted from 90% silver, but would be switching to a nickel copper composition. The only exception was to be the 1965 - 1970 Kennedy half which would be lowered to 40% silver. FDR had previously taken gold money out of the hands of US citizens in 1933. Nixon terminated the last connection the US Dollar had to Gold (and sound money) when he terminated the Bretton Woods arrangement in 1971. Now the US was free to print money to its hearts content without the necessity of having something concrete backing the paper money. As the money supply began to increase inflation took off in the late 60's and never looked back. Today you would need over $7.50 to buy what $1.00 would've bought you in 1964!

But wait, doesn't my last sentence above contradict my premise about unchanging real product pricing? If you need $7.50 to buy in 2011 what $1.00 purchased in 1964, doesn't that mean prices did indeed rise? The short answer is basically, yes and no. Yes, prices increased because we use paper funny money and coin slugs today instead of real silver and gold money. However, in silver and gold money prices have remained remarkably steady since the early 1960's! See below:

1964 - One loaf of white bread could be bought for a silver 1964 dime.
2011 - You can buy a loaf of white bread today with that exact same silver dime.

1964 - One nicely tailored men's suit $50.00
2011 - If you saved your money in silver coins you'd have $1250 to buy that suit!

1964 - One gallon of gas cost $0.30
2011 - Three silver dimes would give you $7.50 towards that gallon gas! Wow, change too!

1964 - The cost of $10 worth of 90% silver quarters was...well...$10.
2011 - Go on eBay and see for yourself. Right now you'd have to pony up $250 in funny money to get ten bucks of real silvery money!

So you see, assuming you saved the last real money (90% silver coins) we had in 1964 you'd find that either your buying power would be the same, or that it actually improved!

Hmm, maybe I am wrong. Prices aren't just stable over the last 5 decades, they've gone down!

Bottom Line: Politicians and Big Banking interests are expanding our money supply recklessly to serve their own agendas and enrich themselves. Eventually, the average Joe America will lose everything as the US Dollar inflates to worthlessness. Be aware of their duplicity! Don't complain to the store clerk or the check out worker like a drone about rising prices. Instead, rebel (legally) against a tyrannical government that is debasing the once mighty and sound US dollar and ruining the savings and buying power of a Nation. BUY SILVER & GOLD NOW!

Rick

The Lead (rhymes with) Head Survivalists!

It never fails. Everytime I read a blog on hyperinflation, economic collapse, gold and silver trading, or survival preparedness involving food and medicine, some moronic toad scralls a message boasting how his guns and lead is all he'll ever need. The implication, of course, is that when things get tough this armed grasshopper will just murder his way to food and any other necessity that he needs to survive! 

Leaving aside the obvious anti-social and immoral nature of the plans of such a marauder, I thought I'd just like to examine such an extreme course vs. more conventional preparedness methods from a purely objective viewpoint.

Firstly, lets look at a hyperinflationary economic crisis. Studying examples like Yugoslavia, Argentina, and the Weimar Republic we get a pretty clear picture. In all three of these instances, sporadic lawlessness did occur in cities resulting in food riots, theft, armed robbery, truck and car hijackings, and increased assaults and murder. However, while rising disorder definitely impacted the lives of the average citizen, police and military were usually available for deployment to restore order with a few days to several weeks. Armed criminals were quite often arrested or shot. Neighborhood watches supplemented the law enforcement in the absence or delayed response of the authorities. Curfews tended to dampen down crime, and shoot-on-site anti-looting laws made things quite hot for the sneak thief.

In the country, small communities also kept eyes out for strangers and warned out the shadier types. Of course, instances of robbery and violent crimes did occur in the remote communities as well. However, lingering bands of outlaws were rare in rural environments due to the difficulty of concealment in the small town environment. Reports of thieves being shot and killed were not infrequently reported as well, discouraging stand-out criminals.

In both these cases armed criminals did prey on the populace, but by no means did they get away with their activities for long. Indeed, most were usually caught or shot on a fairly regular basis, cutting down the number of extended crime sprees.

However, it is the breakdown of society event or "Mad Max" scenario, that the Lead-Heads really begin to salivate like rabid dogs. They theorize that in the absence of law and order theirs guns and ammo will be king, as they meerily roam about the countryside robbing, raping, and pillaging to their black-hearted content. My response to this assertion finds its roots in the Christian Bible, "those that live by the sword, die by the sword". Now, I'm not necessarily implying that God will strike these miscreants down. No, I'm just observing that a life of violent crime preying on a populace that is sporadically armed as well, is just a really high-risk way to make a living!

Vietnam Vets tell us that the average infantyman carried 100 rounds of M16 ammo. The reason they didn't carry more is that most fire fights ended before the soldier could fire more than one hundred rounds. Either the enemy was killed or fled, or the American soldier was dead or in retreat. I see no reason that the mathematical logic of guerilla combat in South East Asia should not be applicable to roving bands of rogues in post-apocalyptic America. They'll also never know just who or what type of resistance is waiting for them around the next copse of trees. Add a lack of medical care and antibiotics for the wounded law breakers to the equation, and death rates even from flesh wounds will inevitably prune back their numbers severly!

I recommend that proper preparedness include food, water, medicine, survival gear, gold and silver, as well as self-defense guns and ammo. If the key to the whole exercise is indeed SURVIVAL, however, I just suggest that the guns and ammo portion of the plan should get as little combat use as possible.

Rick

Silver Eagles and Round Premiums Shrinking!

SUNSHINE MINTING 1 OZ. SILVER ROUND

I am not a silver round type of guy. I've always believed that US Junk Silver coins (pre 1965 circulated dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars) along with the American Silver Eagles (world's best selling bullion coins), were the best overall investment. The coins have a lot going for them. They're minted by the trusted US Mint, and are among the most purchased silver coins in history. In a future economic disruption trading scenario, they'd also be the easiest to explain to the average non-savy person. On the other hand, I shrink at the thought of having to explain just what the heck the above pictured silver round is and what it's worth. I know it's one ounce of fine silver by a trusted company, but to the average American in a strange new world it's just some weird slug that he's never seen or heard about before. Indeed, ask the average man on the street what privately minted money is, and he'll say counterfeit 9 times out of 10!

In the past, however, silver round enthusiasts have been able to claim the only advantage available to their precious metal choice -  the round was markedly cheaper per ounce than the American Eagle and junk silver coins. Even that advantage is now disappearing, and the following prices from APMEX.com speak volumes:

Cost per each American Silver Eagle 1 oz. 2011 (Qty 500+)          $37.18            $3.05 per coin premium


Cost per 1 oz 90% American Junk Silver    ($500 face value)           Spot to +5%   0 to +5% premium


Cost per 1 oz. Sunshine Minting Silver Round 2011 (Qty 500+)    $36.18             $2.05 per round
premium

So, what we're looking at now is only one dollar difference between a bullion COIN minted by the US Mint and currently the single best selling bullion product in the world, and a private company ROUND product unkown to the vast majority of Americans. To make matters worse for the round adherents, presently junk silver is selling at anywhere from spot to spot +5%. A great bargain for coins that were once used in everyday commerce, and whose likeness to the present nickel/copper drones requires only quick instruction to bring a trading partner up to snuff!

To sum up, in my book a buck difference between a silver round and a coin that is legitimate US money is just too insignificant to make its inclusion in my economic distress portfolio worthwhile. Of course, silver round boosters are notoriously hard-headed types (although I truly do love you guys). They'll probably hold onto their rounds until the cows not only come home, but also after they're milked and slaughtered for hamburger! They may even take some perverse joy at having to explain their trading medium to every single person they seek to do business with. For my part, I'll just fork over my junk silver and an occasional ASE and be on my way!

Rick

Why the USA Deserved the S&P Downgrade!

It's amazing what simple math can show:

Why S&P downgraded the USA -

• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385

Rick

 

Entitlement Nation!

"A record 49 percent of Americans live in a household where someone receives at least one type of government benefit, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And 63 percent of all federal spending this year will consist of checks written to individuals for which the government receives currently no services, the White House budget office estimates. That’s up from 46 percent in 1975 and 18 percent in 1940."

"Those figures will climb in coming years. The 75 million baby boomers have only begun their long march into retirement, while President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul will extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million additional people."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-28/americans-hooked-on-government-as-record-number-get-benefits.html

This is why owning gold and silver is imperative. Ignore the noise from the jackasses and the elephants concerned only with keeping their jobs (Ron Paul excluded). One party is pissing down our backs, and the other says it's just raining! The US dollar is 100% doomed. That's the great secret they don't want you to know until it's too late.

I don't blame the people getting Federal benefits. Many are genuinely needy. However, the USA has been playing rich uncle (Sam) for 80 years now, and there's no sign of a reverse in course or even a slowing of the growth of cash outlays. Rich uncles are great when they actually have the money available to hand out. But our Uncle Sam is borrowing trillions of dollars a year (in our names) to continue to send out more and more entitlement checks. Even if the US doubled taxes (revolution time) and cut benefits in half (more revolution), it still wouldn't be enough. Not even close either to pay off all debt and establish a constitutionally mandated balanced budget!

The US is doing exactly as ALL COUNTRIES with fiat money have done in the past - print, print, print, paper money in an attempt to keep itself afloat until the US Dollar isn't worth the paper and ink that went into it! Paper money unbacked by gold and silver (or another valuable commodity
like land) has always and will always fail, dragging down the vast majority of its citizens into the black abyss of absolute financial ruin.

Gold & Silver are the only precious metals that have been used as money for 6000 years. They are the Once and Future Kings. An owner of gold and silver gurantees that he will NOT be a slave to any man or government...ever!

"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" - Patrick Henry

“Specie [gold and silver coin] is the most perfect medium because it will preserve its own level; because, having intrinsic and universal value, it can never die in our hands, and it is the surest resource of reliance in time of war.” ~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813

Rick

Paper Silver Games!

Let's look at the current situation at the Comex silver warehouse. The Comex inventory of registered silver has been declining everyday and was at 32.132mn ounces as of May 25th. This is a 15 year low. Availability of physical is declining concurrent with falling derivative futures prices. Hmm....

As of May 25th, there were 86,928 silver futures contracts outstanding. Each silver futures contract is a claim for 5000 ounces of silver. Total futures claims for physical silver stands at 434.64mn ounces.

So, that's 32.132mn ounces of silver in the warehouse to back outstanding futures positions, with 434.64mn ounces of futures claims on the physical silver. If only 7% of investors currently long silver futures were to request physical delivery, the Comex would certainly be in a difficult position, to say the very least!

Invest in real, physical silver. Let others play their little silver paper games!

Rick
Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):
CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!